Oil heating apparatus



Nov. 7, 1933. w. J. MADDEN OIL HEATING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 30, 1950 FIG: I

INVENTOR: WZYZZ'a/YZ J [K225671612v A TTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 7,- 19 33 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 1,934,269 oIL HEATING APPARATUS William J; Madden, Laiisdowne, Pa. Original application October 30, 1930, Serial No.

492,136. Divided and this application September 30, 1931. Serial No. 566,061

I 4 Claims. (01. 219-48) This invention relates to oil heating apparatus, especially adapted for use at railway lubricating stations where oil is heated preparatory to its application to the journal boxes of railroad cars,

5 the present application constituting adivision of my pending application for U. S. Letters Patent on improvements in Lubricating stations for railways, SerialNo. 492,136, filed October 30,

The object of this invention is to provide a heat interchanger for heating oil, the apparatus being of simple and rugged construction, with all parts readily accessible for repair and inspection, and being characterized by safety and reliabilityof operation. 7

Other more. specificobjects and advantages characteristic of my invention will become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter of one embodiment or example thereof, having reference to the accompanying drawing, whereof Fig. I is a vertical sectional view of an'enclosure housing oil heating apparatusof my invention. I I

Fig. II is a cross sectional, view of the same,

taken as indicated by the arrows IIII of Fig. I;

and,

Fig. III is a plan view of the same. I .With particular reference to Fig. I, the heating apparatus there shown comprises a unit in a lubricating oil system especially adapted for use at a railway lubricating station. The supply of lubricating oil. enters the enclosure 1 housing the apparatus through a pipe 2 which leadsfrom a suitable reservoir, preferably located below the ground level, and enters the housing near the base thereof. To protect the exposed portions of the pipe 2, a heavy covering or sheathing 3 o thermo-insulation is provided.

It will be noted that the lubricant is conducted lable nozzle 9. The hose 8 with its nozzle 9 serves as a convenient means for discharging the heated oil into the journal boxes of railroad cars at the lubricating station. When not in use, the hose 8 is hung from a hook or peg 10 within an isolated compartment 11 provided for its accommodation in the center of the enclosure 1. Access is had to the compartment 11 through a door 12 at the into the bottom of a vertical. auxiliary reservoir front of the enclosure 1, as shown in Fig. III. The drippings from the nozzle 9 are caught by a funnel 13 in the lower part of the compartment 11 and are carried off through a duct 14 for discharge interiorly of the bottom of the en-1 3 closure, thereby minimizing the fire hazard.

The circulatory system employed to maintain the lubricant uniformlyfiuent under all weather conditions comprises a closed pipe loop or coil l5, whereof one of the vertical pipe sections 16, 17 extends axially through the auxiliary reservoir 4. As shown in Fig. I, the sections 16, 17 of the coil 15 are joined at the top by a cross connecting pipe 18 in communication with a horizontal expansion tank 19 inthe upper part of 7 the enclosure 1, and at the bottom by an inclined cross pipe 20. Through the aid of a sight gage 21, the coil 15 and the communicating expansion tank 19 are kept filled with a liquid heat conducting medium to the level indicated'at'lvi Z 1 in Fig. II. In the present instance, the liquid heating medium M is heated by an electric heating element of the bayonet type, conventionally indicated at 22 in Fig. I, which is disposed within and substantially occupies the bottom por- 30 tion of the cross connection 20 of the coil 15. Due to the inclination of the cross connection 20, the he'at'conducting liquid is caused'to circulate in the direction of the arrows in Fig. -I, i. e., upward in the vertical section 17 of the coil 15, and downward in the vertical section 16, the rate of circulation being regulatable by means of hand valves 23, 24 near thebottom ends of the aforesaid coil sections. The liquid heat conducting medium thus flows counter to the oil, 9@ which, in passing upward in the auxiliary reser: voir 4, is confined to a spiral course by a continuous helical fin 25 surrounding the section 16 or the coil. The described arrangement obviously predetermines rapid andefiective thermal interchange as between the heating medium and the oil whereby the fluency of the latter is increased immediately previous to discharge through the nozzle 9. of the hose 8.

Vapor pressure generated in the coil 15 is relieved through a vent pipe 26 which terminates exteriorly of the top of the enclosure 1. For protection against influence of extraneous tem perature conditions, the auxiliary reservoir 4 and the coil 15, as well as the parts associated with them are embedded in insulation 27, such as plastic magnesium or the like, which completely fills the enclosure 1 except for the hose compartment 11 and a small corner compartment 28 11 0 accommodating the electric connections to the bayonet heater 22.

The supply of electric current to the bayonet heater 22 is governed by means including a thermostat 29 which is exposed to the lubricant in the head 6 of the auxiliary reservoir 4. The thermostat 29 is in circuit, through a conductor indicated in dot-and-dash lines at 30 in Fig. I, with a suitable electric temperature regulator 31 which is protected, together with a co-ordinated automatic control panel 32 within a lean-to 33 of the enclosure 1. This lean-to 33 also provides compartments 34 and 35 for sand and water buckets designated, respectively, at 36 and 37. Conductors from the panel 32 to the bayonet heater 22, and from the panel to an electric light 38 at the front of the enclosure 1, are protected from the weather by enclosing them within conduits indicated at 39 and 40, respectively.

As a heat conducting medium, I prefer to employ a solution of calcium chloride or the like which has a boiling point higher than water but lower than the flash point of oil, and a freezing point lower than the freezing point of water. Such a solution affords flexibility of operation in that the boiling point may be varied by increasing or decreasing the strength or density of the solution. Inasmuch as the coil 15 is vented to the atmosphere, the boiling point of the heating medium, predeterminable as just explained, obviously becomes the maximum temperature to which the oil can be raised. Under these circumstances safety in operation is assured, since the oil cannot possibly be brought to the point of ignition, and moreover since the calcium chloride solution is in itself non-inflammable. The use of an intermediary liquid heating medium uniformly applied over a comparatively large surface is furthermore advantageous in that it insures against carbonization of the oil, as frequently occurs in instances where oil is subject to direct contact with a heating device. If for any reason the thermostatic control of the electric heater should fail, the boiling point of the calcium chloride solution becomes the maximum temperature to which the oil can be heated, since the circulatory system for the heating medium is vented to the atmosphere which permits the calcium chloride solution to boil away.

While I have described one example or embodiment of my invention particularly adapted for use at railway lubricating stations, it will be apparent that the heat interchanger herein described and illustrated may be applied to a variety of uses and that the form thereof may be varied to considerable extent without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the claims hereto annexed. Furthermore, while particular reference has been made to the adaptation of the invention to the heating of lubricating oil, the heat interchanger of this invention is equally applicable to the heating of other inflammable fluids by selecting the proper heating medium for the particular fluid to be heated so that the boiling point of the heating medium. is lower than the flash point of the fluid to be heated.

Having thus'described my invention, I claim:

1. A heat interchanger for heating oil or the like comprising a supply line for the fluid to be heated terminating in a reservoir in the form of an elongated tube, a circulatory system for the heating medium, said circulatory system being in the form of a loop and including a pipe extending coaxially through said reservoir, fins extending from the outer surface of said pipe to the inner surface of said reservoir throughout the length of said reservoir whereby uniform heat interchange is effected between said heating medium and the fluid to be heated, and a vent in said circulatory system to allow escape of said heating medium when it is volatilized, whereby the fluid to be heated is prevented from being heated above the volatilization point of said heating medium.

2. A heat interchanger for heating oil or the like comprising a supply line for the fluid to be heated terminating in a reservoir in the form of an elongated tube, a circulatory system for the heating medium, said circulatory system being in the form of a loop and including a pipe extending coaxially through said reservoir, with the heating medium flowing in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of the fluid to be heated, fins extending from the outer surface of said pipe to the inner surface of said reservoir throughout the length of said reservoir whereby uniform heat interchange is effected between said heating medium and the fluid to be heated,

and a vent in said circulatory system to allow j.

escape of said heating medium when it is volatilized, whereby the fluid to be heated is prevented from being heated above the volatilization point of said heating medium.

3. A heat inter-changer comprising a supply line for the fluid to be heated terminating in a reservoir in the form of an elongated tube, a circulatory system for the heating medium, said circulatory system being in the form of a pipe loop and including a pipe section extending co- 1,

axially through said reservoir, fins extending spirally from the outer surface of said pipe section to the inner surface of said reservoir throughout the length of the reservoir, a vent in said circulatory system to allow escape of said '3' heating medium when it is volatilized, whereby the fluid to be heated is prevented from being heated above the volatilization point of said heating medium, and an electric heating element disposed coaxially within said pipe loop.

4. A heat interchanger comprising a supply line for the fluid to be heated terminating in a reservoir in the form of an elongated tube, a circulatory system for the heating medium in the form of a pipe loop and including a pipe section extending coaxially through said reservoir, the heating medium flowing in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of the fluid to be heated, fins extending from the outer surface of said pipe section to the inner surface of said reser- ,j

voir throughout the length of the reservoir, a vent in said circulatory system, an electric heating element disposed within said circulatory pipe loop, and a thermostatic control for said electric heating element including a thermostat disposed within said reservoir at the point where the heating medium is admitted thereto.

WILLIAM J. MADDEN.

iii; 

